Annabeth's plan was a masterpiece. After we defeated the giants, on the way back home from Greece, Hazel had taught us how to manipulate the mist to do what we want. It turned out to be a really useful skill. Plus, now Thalia couldn't tease me on not knowing how to do it.
We packed some clothes and got in the car with Tony. He let me drive as I knew where I was going. We drove to camp and got our stuff out the boot of the car. We walked over to the main building and went inside with Tony.
People turned to look at us oddly until Annabeth clicked her fingers and said, "Hey everyone. We're back!" Her plan was to walk into a year-round camp and use the mist to make people believe that we went there every year, before heading off to Camp Half-Blood after Tony left.
After an awkward moment of silence, someone shouted "Annabeth!" and ran up to give her a hug, before shouting "Percy!" and giving me a hug. It was a little girl, around the age of 8. She had brown pigtails and a huge grin on her face when she saw us.
"Yo, good to see you again, dude. How ya been?" A guy around my age came up to me and gave me a manly hug. He had blond hair, blue eyes, and wasn't bad looking. In fact, he looked sort of like Jason. All the girls started swooning at him, including Annabeth, until I jabbed her in the side.
"Yeah, good, man," I didn't really know what to say. I didn't know these people.
"So, this is your camp?" Tony asked.
"Yes, sir. My name's Jordon, this is my sister Sarah, and welcome to Camp Heartfire." He said while putting his arm around the girl who hugged us. "It's nice to meet you, Mr Stark. I'm a big fan."
"You hear that Percy? He's a big fan. You should be more like your friend, Jordan, here." Tony gestured towards the tall blond. "Why is it called Camp Heartfire? And what do you do here?"
"Here, I'll take you on a tour." Jordan led the way with Sarah in tow. Annabeth and I walked behind Tony and pretended like we knew what was going on. Jordan started talking about all they did at Camp Heartfire.
"We sleep in these cabins, boys on one side, girls on the other," Jordan explained. The cabins were placed in a U shape. "They're also our team names. The founders of Camp Heartfire had a strange obsession with Greek mythology, so, naturally, they are named after the 12 major gods. You know, Zeus, Poseidon, Athena, etc. I'm in the Zeus cabin, Percy is in the Poseidon cabin and Annabeth is in the Athena cabin." Annabeth and I looked at each other. Maybe their mist thing worked too well.
"As for the activities we do here," Jordan continued. "We have fencing, archery, horse riding, volleyball, rock climbing, waterfall climbing for the strong climbers and loads more. Actually, guys, you came back on the right day. It's capture the flag tonight." Annabeth and I stared at each other, thinking exactly the same thing. This is the mortal Camp Half-Blood.
"And finally," Jordan and Sarah came to a stop at a pit in the middle of the field. "This is the reason why we are called Camp Heartfire."
"A hole in the ground?" Tony asked unimpressed.
"No, not just a hole in the ground," Sarah said before her brother could. "Every Friday night, we have a big fire in this pit, at the heart of the camp. Sometimes we throw part of our food in the fire because that's what the Greeks did as an offering to the gods."
"Yes. Thanks, Sarah." Jordan said. "This pit is called the hearth of Hestia, the goddess of the home."
"Anyway," I said to Tony. "You should get back or Pepper will be wondering where you got to."
"You're right. It was nice to meet you Jordan. Sarah." We walked him back to the car. He was about to get into the car when he turned back to me. "Here kid, I got you something."
He handed me a box. I opened it and inside was a phone. I handed it back to him. "No thanks. I don't want a mobile."
"Ok, but I have to say. You're the strangest kid I know. Come here." Before I could protest, he pulled me into a hug. "Have fun. I'll pick you up when Jarvis is done."
"Ok, see you later." I pulled away from the hug. He got in the car and drove off. When he was out of sight, Annabeth and I went back to the camp. Annabeth clicked her fingers, and all the campers had no recollection of us being there. We walked out of the camp and turned north, towards Camp Half-Blood. It was only 2 miles away, so it took us just under an hour to walk it. On the walk, Annabeth and I talked about what we had seen at Camp Heartfire.
"Is it just me, or did that place give you the creeps?" She asked me. "It's so similar to our camp, bar the killing monsters aspect of things."
"I know. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching us." I looked behind me just as a precaution. "Let's just hurry up and get into the safe borders of camp. You know, the one with the unsafe person known as Clarisse." We both laughed as we walked along, picking up the pace a little.
When we got to camp, Annabeth greeted Peleus by scratching him under the chin, we then walked through the gate and into the big house. We told Chiron everything about Camp Heartfire.
"Interesting. And they didn't mention anything about this camp?" He asked. We shook our heads. "Then we just have to hope that they don't know about us. However, I will warn everyone at dinner tonight. Now, off you go. You have lessons to teach." We left the big house and walked down towards the cabins. Word had got around that we were back, so a sign-up sheet had gone up in every cabin to sign-up for sword fighting lessons with me, or dagger fighting skills with Annabeth. After we saw our timetables, we knew we wouldn't have time to see each other until dinner, so at least 2 people would be out after curfew that night.
I went down into the arena to find the Hermes cabin armoured up and ready to fight. I spent 2 hours teaching the Hermes cabin to fight before the next cabin came. I didn't even get a break until dinner. I gave Annabeth a kiss before going to sit at the Poseidon table, on my own. After everyone had gone to bed, Annabeth and I snuck out to the beach.
"Have any fun dagger fighting?" I asked.
"Yeah. The Aphrodite cabin were fast learners surprisingly. I mean, other than Drew, of course. I think Piper's rubbed off on them a little. What about you?"
"Not surprisingly, the best cabin by far was the Poseidon cabin. They just learnt it all in under 5 minutes." I smiled my cheeky grin which got me an eye roll and a shove. "In all seriousness though, the Athena cabin was the best."
"What can I say, we're just amazing."
"Is that right?" I tickled her sides and she screamed and ran down the beach. I ran after her and scooped her off her feet.
"Percy? What are you doing? Put me down." She screamed as I walked towards the water. I got waist-deep in the sea and then, splash. Annabeth was soaked with saltwater. She stood up, her blond curls plastered to her face. A look of anger across her face, other than the glint of humour behind her stormy grey eyes. "I'm so gonna get you back." She pushed me down into the water and held me there. I allowed the water to coat me and, just to humour her, I started spluttering and trying to gasp for air. She hauled me back up and smacked my chest.
"Will you stop that? We both know you could breathe." She grabbed my top and pinged it back. The water-soaked top stuck to my abs. I caught her staring and chuckled a little. I cupped her chin and made her look at me.
"I love you." And I kissed her, in the middle of the sea, under the light of the moon and stars. It was magical.
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Powerful Families
FanfictionPercy Jackson returns home after the Giant's War to find his home ruined and his parents missing. After a month of investigations, the police find he has a long lost uncle, and Percy is sent to live with him against his will. With the help of his un...
